During Dr. Barthwell's tenure, the Bush Administration widely publicized the science-based facts about the dangers of marijuana use and the harms of drug legalization. The Administration encouraged student drug testing as a deterrent to the initiation of drug use and as an early identification tool, and it promoted the expansion and improvement of drug courts. The ONDCP 25-Cities Initiative fostered local coordination of drug control efforts.

 

In response to advocacy by Dr. Barthwell, ONDCP coordinated with the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) to provide funding for demonstration grants for screenings, brief interventions, and referrals to treatment (SBIRT). In fiscal year 2004, the President's drug treatment initiative, Access to Recovery, which was defined by her office at ONDCP, received a $100 million appropriation from Congress. While serving in the EOP, Dr. Barthwell was an active member of the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth and the White House Domestic Violence Working Group. She worked closely with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to define the scope of its Health Services Research portfolio.

 

Barthwell’s research interests include providing expanded care to patients with OUD in Office-Based settings and advocacy for access to both methadone and buprenorphine. As a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, she was a member of the team at Braeburn Pharmaceuticals that sought approval from the FDA for Probuphine, an implant that delivers buprenorphine over a six-month period to stable patients on medication therapy for OUD. She consults with a number of national organizations that provide buprenorphine in office-based settings and is helping to propagate models of care to expand access to individuals with OUD. In Illinois, she was part of the team that gained approval for the use of government entitlements for methadone and fostered the use of ASAM Patient Placement Criteria (PPC) in the public sector. Barthwell’s work on Urine Drug Treatment (UDT) has helped to define evidence-based standards of care employed by laboratories, practitioners, and payers.

 

Dr. Barthwell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Wesleyan University, where she served on the Board of Trustees, and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Michigan Medical School. Following post-graduate training at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University Medical Center, she began her practice in the Chicago area. Dr. Barthwell was a founding member of the Chicago Area AIDS Task Force and hosted a weekly local cable show on AIDS.

 

Barthwell’s public service includes appointments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Drug Abuse Advisory Committee (DAAC), the National Advisory Councils of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). She served on the Boards of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD), the Legal Action Committee (LAC), the International Council on Alcoholism and Addictions (ICAA), and Educating Voices, Inc. (EVI).

 

As a means of promulgating standards of care in addiction medicine, Barthwell has served as a member of the American College of Occupational Medicine (ACOM) Medical Review Officer Certification Council (MROCC) Exam Writing Sub-Committee, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organization (JCAHCO) Behavioral Health Professional and Technical Advisory Committee, and the National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council (NBAAC). She is a member of a number of Editorial Advisory Boards and is published in addiction medicine. In 2003, Dr. Barthwell received the Betty Ford Award, given by the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA). In

1997, Dr. Barthwell's peers named her one of the "Best Doctors in America" in addiction medicine.

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